Author
Topic: Spokes and nipples (Read 900 times)

I'm having a hard time getting the nipples off the spokes on my 90 Mountain. My problem is the spoke wrench. I've done several Hondas and had no problem, but the nipples on this bike have me stumped. I have one of those multi-wrenches, 1 thru 6 and it's fit all my other bikes. These seem to fall between the 5 and 6. I measured them, flat side to flat side and they are very close to 4.50 mm. Went out this morning and finally found a 4.4 wrench at a bicycle shope. It fits nicely on one set of surfaces but won't go on the other sides. The nipples seem very soft and pretty thin. One of my idiosynchrocies is trying to reuse as many original parts as possible. I've gotten pretty adept at cleaning, polishing and replating (Eastwood tin/zink kit) spokes but nipples are a one time try. Haven't found any posts about this problem so am wondering if maybe a previous owner changed rims or spokes. Any help greatly appreciated.

VerygaryI have removed quite a few spokes/nipples from 90 rims. I find the best way is to heat the nipple with a propane gas torch and (with leather gloves on) use a good quality smallest shifter spanner(wrench) on the nipple. I also could not find an appropriate spoke spanner. Try to avoid using a flat sided screwdriver on the nipple. If you do make sure it is a tight fit and well seated in the nipple. Also use plenty of WD40.

Thanks Rayk, a little heat seemed to help. I did let them set overnight with penetrating oil but the nipples just seem fragile. Got them all off the rear wheel but several are pretty beat up. The good news is that I had a set of old spokes and nipples off a Honda 50 I restored and while the spokes are different lengths, the nipples seep to work. Appreciate your help.Gary